


Sleepless Nights

by StariNights



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Comfort, Disney Movies, Fluff, Gay, Insomnia, Kissing, Like, M/M, Minor panic attack, a little cursing, ligit this is just fluff, mention of nightmares, mention of overworking, oh so gay, the tiniest bit of angst, with like
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-07-07 03:10:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15899694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StariNights/pseuds/StariNights
Summary: 5:34 am. Great.He sighed and scrubbed at his eyes before pushing himself up into a sitting position. He laid his head in his hands, for the third time this week alone he hadn't been able to sleep, leaving him exhausted and alone in the dark at this ungodly hour. It sucked. Honestly, he didn't think the others would have been able to tell the difference between the circles under his eyes and his regular eyeshadow. The bags under his eyes were so dark he felt like he was cosplaying a raccoon.





	Sleepless Nights

Virgil sighed as he glanced over at his alarm clock.

5:34 am. Great.

He sighed and scrubbed at his eyes before pushing himself up into a sitting position. He laid his head in his hands, for the third time this week alone he hadn't been able to sleep, leaving him exhausted and alone in the dark at this ungodly hour. It sucked. Honestly, he didn't think the others would have been able to tell the difference between the circles under his eyes and his regular eyeshadow. The bags under his eyes were so dark he felt like he was cosplaying a raccoon.

He shook his head before shoving himself off his bed, probably with more force than needed. He stumbled around for a moment as his vision went black and he felt around for a wall, a chair- anything to keep himself upright.

He gripped the doorknob like a lifeline, blinking vigorously in an attempt to regain his vision. He pushed open his door quietly, hoping to not wake any of the other sides. He knew Logan would be up in maybe an hour, Patton would soon follow and he wanted to delay that confrontation as long as he could.

Virgil stuck his head out into the hallway, looking both ways before determining it was safe to leave.

The coast was clear.

Virgil padded out of his room silently, tiptoeing on the carpet. He made his way down the hall, running his hand along the railing as he descended the stairs. Stifling a yawn, he ran a hand through his messy excuse for hair as he shuffled to the kitchen, in desperate need of some tea.

Turns out, he wasn't the only one with that idea.

The anxious side almost jumped out of his skin when he spotted Roman leaning against a counter. He was waiting for his water to boil, the kettle sitting silently on the stove beside him. The aforementioned side seemed just as surprised to see Virgil out and about at this ungodly hour.

"Oh, morning sunshine" He whispered. Virgil rolled his eyes, pointedly ignoring the nickname and the heat creeping up his neck.

"Does it count as morning if you haven't slept yet?" He asked as he grabbed down his own mug. It was just a plain black one, with the word _Nope._  written on it in thin white letters.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Roman hummed in reply but didn't actually say anything. Virgil was grateful for that, conversation wasn't really his strong suit at 5:30 in the morning.

He hopped up on the counter as he waited for the water to boil. He and Roman were enveloped in silence, the kind of silence that made Virgil want to just. Scream. Roman just sort of- stared off into the space near Virgil's face. He shifted under his gaze, drumming his fingers anxiously on the surface beside him. He wanted nothing more than to run back to his room tea-less.

However, he didn't need to do that as the kettle starting screeching.

Startled, Virgil jumped and dropped his mug on the tiled floor. It shattered and Virgil wanted to join the kettle in its screaming endeavors.

Roman snapped out of whatever trance he had been in and quickly bent down to help him.

"Fuck, fuck I'm so sorry-" Virgil carefully lowered himself off the counter, careful not to let his bare feet land on the shattered mug.

"it's fine Virgil, it's just a little glass" Roman assured him as the kettle continued to screech behind him.

"I-I'll go get the broom!" Virgil jumped at the chance to do something, anything to be useful!

He rushed back, broom in hand to see Roman still picking up the bigger pieces of glass. Virgil rushed over and set the dustpan beside the remaining glass. Before he could start sweeping he heard his creative counterpart hiss in pain.

Virgil spun around to see blood dripping from his hand. "Oh, jeez Princey!" he dropped the broom and knelt beside him "what did you do?"

"I cut my hand"

"Yeah, no shit." Virgil rolled his eyes and gently took his hand.

"It was _your_ broken mug" he hissed back, more so nursing his wounded pride than his wounded hand.

Virgil recoiled his hands like Roman's hand caught fire, trying desperately to mask the anxiety on his face. Of course, it's his fault. He dropped it, now Roman's hand is cut and the mug is gone forever and there's a big mess and it's all _his fault-_

Shutting down any emotion that might have shown on his face, Virgil stood. His movements were robotic and stiff. Roman opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but nothing came out. Virgil stared at him for a beat before turning on his heal and heading back to his room, mumbling something about needing a nap before breakfast.

Roman cradled his hand to his chest and watched him go.

~~~~~

The next time Virgil wanders the halls at 4 am, he wasn't as surprised to see Roman sitting quietly on the couch. That didn't take away the anxiety of seeing him again, though. You see, Virgil had done an incredible job avoiding the fanciful side.

He froze in the hallway, debating whether or not to go back to his room. But the thought of sitting alone in his room with only the dark and his thoughts to keep him company was almost enough to send him flying to the seat beside Roman.

Instead, he settled on a healthy middle. Slowly padding to the beanbag beside the couch and plopping himself down.

Finally, Roman looked up. "Hey"

"Hey," Virgil glanced over at his bandaged hand and winced "how's the- I mean, your hand? How is it?"

Roman glanced down at his hand as if he'd forgotten there was anything wrong with it. "Oh, yeah it's grand"

They settled into silence. Virgil could feel his heart pounding in his chest and he honestly wanted to rip his hair out. Roman didn't look so happy with it either. He was tapping his foot to some beat only he could hear and shifting in his seat every five seconds.

Finally, Roman broke the silence.

"So," he started, glancing over at his anxious counterpart "why on earth are you awake at this ungodly hour?"

Virgil shrugged "Can't sleep," Virgil made sure to leave out the nightmares and the anxiety of being alone in the dark with his insecurities as his only company. "'sides, I could ask you the same thing." He raised an eyebrow at Roman, a challenge neither of them truly knew the parameters of.

Roman looked like he was searching for the answer to life in Virgil's dull eyes. To the point that Virgil started to squirm under his gaze. Roman seemed to give up on finding whatever he was looking for, as he dropped his gaze and shrugged back. "Too many ideas. I can't sleep when I have a project remaining for me to complete!"

Virgil exhaled a little out of his nose "And yet you're not doing any of them?"

The prince gave him a tired smile "Yeah, they end up half-baked when I work on them this late, but I still can't sleep so..." he trailed off, seemingly unsure of where to go with that train of thought.

Now it was Virgil's turn to search for life's great mysteries in Roman's eyes. However, unlike the royal in front of him, he seemed to find them as he smiled and asked:

"Wanna watch a Disney movie?"

~~~~~

It became a tradition. Anytime one of them wandered into each other at some horrible hour, they'd find somewhere to watch a Disney movie. whether it be the commons, Roman's room or even in the hallway on one of their phones.

Tonight was such a night.

It was Roman who found Virgil curled up on the couch, arms wrapped loosely around his legs and headphones over his ears.

He padded over, bushing his hand lightly across his arm as he passed, letting him know he was there. They'd grown accustomed to casual touches now and then. Letting their shoulders brush when they watched their movies or one would lean their head on the other's shoulder when they got too tired but they just had to finish /this one last movie/. And if one of them happened to smile fondly at the other and pull him closer, well...

That's no one else's business now, is it?

Virgil jumped but seemed to relax slightly at the sight of Roman's easy smile. "Hey, Princey.."

"Hello, Mister Tall, Snark, And Brooding, another sleepless night?" he eased himself down beside the anxious side.

Virgil huffed out what seemed to have been a laugh, only it was tired and devoid of any joy. "yeah..." Roman cocked his head, feeling something was off.

Virgil was still curled in on himself, maybe even more then when Roman had walked in. His voice was soft and raspy, and his eyes were bloodshot.

Wait.

"have you- were you crying?" the Prince persona asked dumbly, instinctually reaching out a hand to touch him. He had really come to care for the darker side these past few nights and it pulled at something in his chest to see him like that.

Virgil pulled into himself more, head buried in his knees he said:

"Pfft, no"

Roman furrowed his eyebrows, leaning in slightly hoping to catch a glimpse of Virgil's face. He was thoroughly disappointed as Virgil tighten his grip on knees.

He huffed, smiling softly at him as he pulled back to his spot on the couch. "So, I take it tonight's a Black Cauldron night?" He raised an eyebrow at him, grinning victoriously as Virgil's eyes peeked up from behind his knees.

As Roman set up their movie, Virgil uncurled a bit, if only to wrap a blanket around his shoulders.

Roman padded back and plopped down beside him, maybe a little closer then he should have if the way Virgil curled into himself meant anything. He didn't move and neither did Virgil, so he counted that as a win.

As the opening credits started he watched Virgil out of the corner of his eye. The darker side uncurled a little more and Roman kinda wanted to jump for joy.

The movie continued on with Roman barely paying any attention to it. Instead, his mind was completely occupied by his couch mate. Why was he upset? What could Roman do to help? Was there any way he could help?

They were almost halfway through the movie when Virgil yawned, leaning his head on Roman's shoulder. Roman felt his heart skip a beat. He looked down at the darker side and smiled fondly.

When he was sure he was asleep, Roman leaned his head on Virgil's and just.

Started talking.

"You know, I really worry about you." He whispered into the other's hair "I know you think no one notices the circles under your eyes, but I do. I notice them every time we have our Disney nights. I know these aren't the only nights you don't sleep but I don't know how to help." He shifted ever so slightly to bury his face deeper in the other's hair "I wish you'd tell me how to help you." He sat in silence letting his words hang in the air, unheard.

Or so he thought.

"You know, I worry about you too" Virgil rasped into Roman's shoulder "I see the circles under your eyes too, you know. You don't wear makeup to hide them at night."

Roman felt his heart catch in his throat as Virgil shifted out of his embrace. Virgil pulled back to look in the Prince's eyes, his stare was intense. He spoke with more conviction then Roman had ever heard in his voice before.

"I'm not stupid, you know. I can tell when you're overworking yourself. You haven't stopped working since the last video, and it's not good for your health. You know it's not good for your health."

Roman puffed out "Yeah? What about you? You've been so panicky lately. You never let yourself relaxed and your circles are darker than mine!" He gripped the other's shoulders "You always look like you're waiting for the world to end. You never let yourself just- enjoy the moment!"

"So?"

Roman stopped. He furrowed his brows as he stared dumbly at Virgil.

"What do you mean 'so'? Virgil you-" he trailed off, utterly confused.

"Princy," He pushed the prince's hands off his shoulders "There's a reason I don't just 'enjoy things' I-" He cut himself off before pulled his hood over his head, retreating back into his shell "You wouldn't understand"

Roman reached out and gripped his wrists.

"Then make me." Now it was Virgil's turn to look confused.

"What?"

"I said make me. Make me understand. Please" he let his hands slide down to grip his hands "I want to understand."

Virgil froze for a beat, then, tears began dripping down his face. "Wait, oh no Virgil wai-" He let go of his hands and wrapped his arms around the darker side. Virgil gripped the back of his shirt like a lifeline.

"It will, Ro" Roman barely caught what Virgil had whispered into his neck, he really more felt it the heard it.

"What do you mean?" He whispered back.

"The world will end, the other shoe's gonna drop and then all the progress we've- I've made the past few months will just be void and we'll be back to how we were before."

Roman held him out at arm's length so he could look at his face. He was still crying a bit a Roman was about ready to join him. He searched the other's eyes, only to find he really believed everything he said.

but, no. It's not!

"Virgil, "he started softly "nothing could put us back to where we started." he scooted closer "Virgil, you've come so far" his hands dropped to grab Virgil's once more "You used to not even come out for breakfast, now we watch Disney movies everytime I can't sleep." Their knees bumped "You are amazing" Virgil looked like a deer caught in the headlights ass Roman moved closer "And kind and-"

"Ro..." Virgil's voice was barely above a breath.

And suddenly Roman was leaning forward. His lips were softly pressed against Virgil's. He felt Virgil tense up, but before he could pull away, Virgil's hands were cupping his face and he was kissing him back.

All too soon, in Roman's opinion, Virgil was pulling back.

"Is this ok?" Roman asked, his hands resting on the small of his back. Virgil nodded and cracked him a small smile.

"Yeah, yeah it is"

**Author's Note:**

> so I wrote most of this at like 4 am sooooo yeah. Thanks for reading! hope you enjoyed. have a good day/night!


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